Alibaba launches $15 bn global technology upgradation programme

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) announced Wednesday it will invest more than $15 billion US over the next three years into a global research and development program to increase collaboration and develop new technologies. The Chinese tech giant is now recruiting 100 researchers.

The Academy, which stands for the "Academy for Discovery, Adventure, Momentum and Outlook", will oversee the opening of research and development labs worldwide and seek to recruit talented scientists and researchers to join the program. It has two branches in Chiana; Beijing and Hangzhou, Two in the USA; San Mateo and Bellevue, one in Moscow; Russia, One in Tel Aviv, Israel; and Singapore.

They will focus on both foundational and disruptive technology research including data intelligence, internet of things, financial technology, quantum computing and human-machine interaction. Within those broad research areas, the labs will focus on topics such as machine learning, network security, visual computing, natural language processing (NLP), etc.

"The Alibaba DAMO Academy will be at the forefront of developing next-generation technology that will spur the growth of Alibaba and our partners".

"Over the past 18 years, we have developed a robust technology infrastructure that supports the rapid growth of our business".

China's top e-commerce firm will launch research bases in Israel, the US, Russia and Singapore as it looks to compete with global leaders in e-commerce, logistics and cloud technology.

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Alibaba now has 25,000 engineers on staff, it says, and says the new research infrastructure will help them meet a goal of two billion customers within two decades.

DAMO Academy has already merged with the University of California, Berkeley, which will witness the entities explore areas such as secured real-time computing through RISE lab.